A group of donor-conceived and surrogate-born people have spoken out at the UN in a renewed push to improve the rights of access to biological information.
Giselle Newton, a PhD research student at UNSW, is one of 16 donor-conceived and surrogate-born people from around the world who are leading a renewed push to change laws which govern their access to information about their genetic heritage.
For the first time, the group told their own stories at a historic visit to the United Nations to mark the 30-year anniversary of the Convention for the Rights of the Child in Geneva on November 19.
They presented their five recommendations* to the Human Rights High Commissioner Michele Bachelet, and received a standing ovation from the audience.
“We highlighted the consequences of ignoring the voices of those most affected by these practices,” Ms Newton says. “Donor-conceived people are experts on this issue and our voices need to be listened to and acted upon.”